WESTWOOD—The borough’s 8,422 voters face a contested local council race, at least partly, as incumbent Republicans Robert Bicocchi and Beth Dell face a challenge from Democrat Lesley Whyard for the two open council seats.
Dell provided details on her career and public service, noting at the outset she’s lived in Westwood since 1999, engaging with local needs as a youth.
“As a Park Ridge teenager I volunteered at Pascack Valley Hospital and developed a very special appreciation for Westwood. My civic engagement has only grown over the years,” Dell said.
“When my children entered elementary school, I served as chairperson for many committees and fundraising events. I was PTO President for three years and am still on the board of the Westwood-Washington Township Education Foundation. During my active tenure we’d raised $300,000 for the Westwood Regional School District,” she said.
In her career, Dell manages an 80-unit senior citizen complex, Glen Courts, in Glen Rock, where she oversees maintenance, staff and vendors. “I coordinate social events and ensure the safety and well-being of the tenants within a six-figure budget. In March of 2020, this became more challenging as unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic protocols were instituted,” she wrote.
Dell serves as board member of a not-for-profit that supervises the operations of the Bergen County Homeless Shelter in Hackensack, and an active member of St. Martin’s church. She is married and has two sons, ages 21 and 25.
After being appointed to the Westwood Council in September 2015, Dell has been reelected twice in 2016 and in 2019. She also serves as liaison to the Health and Recreation Department, the Celebrate Westwood Committee, the Library Board of Trustees and the Zoning and Planning boards.
“For the past two years, my bipartisan peers have unanimously chosen me for Council President. I currently serve as chair to the Finance, Personnel and Shared Services committees, and as liaison to the Chamber of Commerce and Westwood Regional District. My long and varied experience makes me very well qualified to continue in this leadership role,” she told Pascack Press.
She said she seeks reelection based upon her “many accomplishments” achieved by herself and colleagues.
“Most recently, my engagement with the NJ Film Institute, resulted in multiple films being shot in Westwood. Working with Emerson Mayor Danielle DiPaola to share costs while expanding the senior shuttle service; and shepherding a very successful staffing overhaul as many long-term borough employees retired,” she said.
And she said, “I have worked with my Finance Committee to deliver value driven budgets over multiple cycles.”
Republican Robert Bicocchi told Pascack Press he and his wife have been Westwood residents since 1996.
“I started volunteering in Westwood the day I moved in. I walked to borough hall, met then Mayor Skip Kelly and was appointed to his Planning Board. Volunteering is important at any level. You become involved in shaping your children’s future. I’ve been a Westwood Baseball coach and a trustee. I was very engaged in constructing the Meadow Brook Park field house. And I’ve coached Westwood Flag Football as well,” Bicocchi wrote.
Bicocchi was first elected to Westwood Council in 2013, re-elected, in 2016 and then again, in 2019. He’s been council liaison to the police, fire, ambulance, health and recreation departments, the Historic Preservation Commission, Library Board of Trustees, Zoning Board of Adjustment and the Planning Board. he also has served as council president.”
“During my council tenure I worked towards reducing net debt by $2-plus million, developing responsible municipal budgets, providing unmatched recreation programs and infrastructure (including a pump track at Westvale Park), ensuring our first responders are equipped with the most current apparatus (including early warning flood sensors in the Pascack Brook) and implementing an aggressive road paving program using innovative methods, Bicocchi said.
As the governing body’s technology liaison, he said, he “reduced the borough’s paper use and enhanced its cybersecurity.”
Democratic challenger
Democrat Lesley Whyard, the lone challenger, said she was running because she has a vested interest in preserving and expanding the feeling of community among Westwood’s residents.
“Holding public office is an act of service to the people; democracy matters. Not only listening to, but hearing what the people of this borough need and want are important to me. As such, my goal is for the residents to feel more connected with the goings-on in our local government,” she said.
Having earned a bachelor’s degree in public communication from Ramapo College, she said, communication is a strength of hers and has served her well.
“Since my husband Jason and I moved here in 2005, we have raised a daughter and many rescue animals in our home and we wouldn’t want to do it anywhere else,” Whyard said.
She said in 2010 she started a Westwood Facebook page, facebook.com/westwoodnj, that now has more than 7,000 followers.
She said that, during the Covid lockdown, she launched the “Westwood Stronger Together” sign campaign through the page and sold hundreds of signs, raising $4,300 that was donated to the local ambulance corps and fire department.
As main office administrative assistant at Ridgewood High School, she said, she works closely with the principal “to make decisions regarding the school’s annual budget and handle the bookkeeping of over 100 student activities’ bank account lines.”
She said she recently served on a seven-person negotiating team for the Ridgewood Education Association “representing every teacher and secretary in the largest school district in Bergen County. After many hours of discussion and debate we reached a three-year settlement without having to work sans a contract or implement job actions.”
She said as a community volunteer, she has been an animal foster for several local animal rescue groups, a long-time member of Bergen County Players, a former Scouts BSA Cubmaster for Pack 228, and first Girl Scout master for Troop 321, and a volunteer at Parkside Community Church food pantry distribution.
“It is my intention to bring balance to the council: to better represent all of the residents of Westwood. I have the demeanor, thoughtfulness, and careful judgment that it will take to work with the mayor and council to make decisions that will positively impact the Westwood of today and beyond,” Whyard added.
For more information, visit facebook.com/OneWestwood.
Registered voters break down as 3,014 Democrats, 2,374 Republicans and 3,034 unaffiliated voters. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.